Beal machine for stuffing mattresses.

pp. 20-21

No. 13  Gristmill built in 1811 by Dr. John Dame was between the road (Rt. 25A) through Orfordville and the brook, west of the present Orfordville church. Its value had depreciated from $24 to $6 in 1824 when Dr. Dame, then living in Lyme, sold the mill to David R. Beal who operated the gristmill until 1833. In 1837 he established a chair factory on the gristmill site. At first the chairs were made by hand. When a turning lathe was installed, a large and wondering crowd of people reportedly were present to see it operate. Beal's son, Royal, had an inventive mind. In 1838 at the age of nineteen, he fashioned a band saw by brazing together four old saws. He was laughed out of applying for a patent and did not receive the credit for the invention. The model for his band saw was in the possession of his son, Fenner L. Beal, in 1915. He also invented a machine for turning chair rounds before the process was in general use. After the death of his father, Royal Beal carried on the business in partnership with his son, Frank. In 1882 a fire destroyed their factory with its machinery, patterns and much of their stock at a loss of $10,000. They rebuilt on the same site the next year and specialized in manufacturing furniture, but also turned out about 500,000 bobbins a year. In 1893 they installed machinery for making wire bedsprings and mattresses. On a night in September, 1903, fire destroyed the Beal factory under the proprietorship of Royal's sons, Frank J. and Fenner L. Beal.

p. 23

The dwelling house built by Stephen Cushman in 1818 stands on the south side of Rt. 25A about opposite the Orfordville church. In 1855 Cushman sold land to the Town for a Town House which was built that year at a cost of $1,474. In 1894 Frank J. Beal made settees for the building at a cost of $71.40. In 1915 appropriations of $1,200 had been made over a period of two years which, according to an Orford historian of that time, were used to improve the Town Hall, as it is known today, making it "attractive and comfortable." The Beal settees have recently been removed from the building and folding chairs put in their place.

Built by a philanthropist whose hand was always extended to the unfortunate, notably ex-convicts, many of whom were In his employ, the Morey house on Hillside Avenue, Malden — first of the residences erected in that part of the town — afterward figured prominently as a meeting place for groups of abolitionists and became one of the "way stations" on the "underground railway" where runaway slaves were concealed until they could start again toward Canada.

This old house, standing as it does on an eminence high above the street, commands attention by its very location. Flights of stone steps lead to the front and the side doors, and any one who has climbed those steps and entered has had a story worth the telling.

When the house was erected 70 years or more ago, the owner gave instructions that it was to be built "so that it would stand"; and the way in which the structure has stood the test is proof that his orders were faithfully obeyed. A wooden building, it appears to be as substantial inside and out as on the day the owner took possession.

Many years ago one Timothy Bailey, first president of the Malden bank, and at that time one of the wealthiest men in the city, had a daughter Elmira whom be disinherited because she insisted on marrying a young man of the Universalist faith. This young man was David B. Morey, and leaving the home of abundance, the bride and bridegroom went to housekeeping in simple fashion in Charlestown. Mr. Morey's business was the manufacture of Britannia ware. But it was more than that, for he saved many a man from despair and set him on the road to a useful career. In the shop many of the employees were men who had been in prison; in fact, at one time practically all the employees were ex-convicts. The theory, upon which Mr. Morey acted in taking them in was that these men were not hopelessly bad but had only been unfortunate, and that if they were given a chance to get on their feet again as soon as they were out of prison their future years might be those of honor and usefulness.

That the employees were appreciative was evidenced by the prosperity of the business. After a time David Morey was in a position financially to build a home of his own, and then the house in Malden was erected. It was a roomy, comfortable looking structure with a veranda across the front that could be entered from the parlors through long French windows. While there was nothing pretentious about the house and no attempt was made at ornate decoration, it had an impressive dignity indicating that the owner was a person of importance in the community. Standing alone, as it did then, it readily served as a landmark, and on account of Its lofty position, it could be readily pointed out from a distance. All this became of special importance in connection with the abolition movement, which was then agitating men and women alike, and in which, from the first, the Moreys had felt a particular interest.

Close acquaintance with such men as William Lloyd Garrison, Parker Pillsbury and Wendell Phillips served to strengthen the anti-slavery sentiments both Mr. Morey and his wife had early cherished. At the time Phillips made his remarkable speech in old Music hall, Boston, Mrs. Morey was one of the phalanx of women who formed a cordon around him, thereby enabling him to escape from the building in safety.

Being of such pronounced anti-slavery views, it was only natural that the Moreys should take an active part in everything calculated to forward the cause of the abolitionists, and the house in Malden came to be used as a meeting place. Slaves were received here and hidden in the cellar until thy could be passed on to the home of Harriet Beecher Stowe at Andover. Their timid, peculiar knock on the door and their passwords were familiar sounds to the Morey household.

It chanced that about 1800 David Morey was visiting a friend in Orford, N. H. The home in which he was a guest had among its attractions, a music hall which contained pianos, stringed and wind instruments, and whose capacious proportions and domed ceiling afforded space for a pipe organ, which was considered the glory of the establishment. It was the custom of the family to gather in this room at eventide for music, performers upon the various instruments being found in the home circle. Impressed by the talent of a daughter of the family, Mr. Morey said to his host, "You have a large family and I have only one son. Lend me your daughter Ellen and let her come to live with us and study music." This appeared such an excellent opportunity for the young girl, who in common with other members of the family was exceedingly fond of music and had learned to play when but a tiny child, that the father gave his consent. Afterwards in true story-book fashion, Ellen married Mr. Morey's son. For years she has been known as Mme. Beale Morey, and it is this Madame Morey and her family who now occupy the house on Hillside Avenue.

How clearly I recall those days in the early '70's, Madame tells visitors, "when I used to listen in open-eyed wonder to the discussions that went on under this roof. The great thinkers of the day came to our house as a matter of course. Bronson Alcott held many of his conferences here. Other visitors were John M. Spear, Samuel Longfellow, David Warson, Lucretia Mott, Margaret Fuller, Lydia Maria Child and John Weiss. They used to discuss the very subjects that are uppermost in the world's thought today — woman suffrage, peace and temperance."

Of her own life since then Madame has many a tale to tell, for she has traveled from the Arctic circle to Biskara in the Great desert, making her home alternately with the fisher folk of the North sea and with England's aristocracy, with the Swiss peasants of the Alps and in the Rhine castles; in the tents of the Bedouin Arabs and the royal palaces of Egypt, yet she always has regarded the colonial house of her childhood and that built by her father-in-law as her real home. She claims the distinction of having been the first woman conductor in the world and made her debut in this role at a concert In the old city hall at Malden with Bernard Listermann, then concert master of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as first violin. This was in the early '80's, and people shook their heads at the idea of a woman manipulating a baton in public; but with the demonstration of ability came abundant success, and Madame Morey since then has held continuously the positIon of conductor and organist in some of the finest churches in Boston and its suburbs. Her student life was with Junius W. Heill of Boston, and afterward with the best teachers In Boston, since which time she has filled engagements in England, France, Italy and Germany.

Though in structure the Morey house is pretty much the same today as what it was built, it has been beautified with changes and additions made by the present occupant and enriched with treasures gathered in her travels. In several of the rooms there are reminders of the past, rubbIng elbows, as it were, with modern furniture and works of art. Nearly everything has a story connected with it. The copper Etruscan vase and bowl on the piano stand beside a large seven candle-stick candelabrum brought from a Greek church. — The Aegean sea scene which constitutes the upper half of the lofty oak mantle, is a conventionalized Alma-Tadema group. The great painting opposite, entitled "Night" is by Frank H. Collins, a graduate of the Beaux Arts, Paris, and now of New York, and represents a bit of scenery in Madame Morey's native town. On an Inlaid Chippendale table in one corner the first funds of the Malden bank were counted.

In the hall hang three unusual treasures — a net from old Hastings-by-the-Sea, once used in saving lives on the English channel, a tapestry by Gobelin, and a mirror which came from the boudoir of Marie Antoinette. The wall paper in the room beyond is the original paper put on when the house was built. It came from London, and its mazarine blue and shades of gray seem to have faded not a whit in all the intervening years. The fireplace in this room is of Egyptian marble. Another inlaid table of attractive design takes the observer back to olden days and is treasured as that around which the "wise men" and women of half a century ago were wont to gather as they discussed the vital problems of humanity.